


How Lucky We Are

by BloomingMiracle (Luna264), freezingoceans



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Humor, Kwami Swap, Ladybug!Nino, Tags Subject to Change, cat!Marinette, moth!adrien, we think were think funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27443959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna264/pseuds/BloomingMiracle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/freezingoceans/pseuds/freezingoceans
Summary: Marinette and Nino always figured that magical superhero adventures were things that happened to other people. It turns out magical superhero adventures were not just things that happened to other people. They also happened to Nino and Marinette.
Comments: 34
Kudos: 39





	1. Time Has Changed The Metaphor

Once again, it was the start of a new school year, and once again Marinette had slept through her alarm.

She shoved a slice of toast into her mouth, accepted her parents cheek and forehead kisses, and ran out the door, snagging the box of macarons that she and her parents had prepared for her class the night before on her way.

Her mad dash to school was interrupted, however, as Marinette saw an older man crossing the street, as cars barreled towards him.

There was no time to think.

Marinette put on a burst of speed, helping the man finish crossing right before the car would have smashed into him.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded, surprisingly calm considering the situation. The man then proceeded to pat her shoulder, and snag a macaron from the box she had tossed aside to save him. Then he walked off without a word.

She looked at the box. It was about half empty, now, with some of its contents spilled across the road and sidewalk.

“Just my luck,” she muttered.

\---

Nino was usually on time to school. But his brother, Chris, had refused to leave the house because “School was for babies”. Nino couldn’t just leave without trying to help his mother get Chris to go to school, but the argument had now been going on for three hours and he was _really late_.

He ran towards College Francois Dupont, going over his excuses in his head. He could _probably_ just tell Mme. Bustier that he’d had to help his mother. She’d get that, right?

He came to a halt, because he obviously wasn't the only one who was late today. There was a blonde boy running towards the school with as much fervor as Nino was.

He didn’t recognize the boy. Was he new? He knew most of the kids from the other classes, at least in passing. This guy _had_ to be new.

Things got stranger, however, as a car pulled up next to the school, and after a terse discussion, the boy got _into_ the car, and drove off.

“That doesn’t look good,” Nino muttered. Was that a kidnapping? Was that what he just witnessed? He stood a moment, baffled by the interaction he had just witnessed, before noticing an elderly man on the other side of the entrance to the school falling down.

He ran to the man, helping him stand again. “Hey, d-- uh, sir. You doing alright?”

“As well as one can be,” the man said. “Thank you, young man.”

Old people really were _all_ like this, huh.

“Sure thing, d-- sir,” he said, backing up towards the school as he made finger-guns at the man. “I gotta get to class now, but take care, alright?”

“Of course,” the man said.

Nino turned and dashed into the building, frantically wracking his brain for an excuse to explain why he was so late.

\---

“You’re _not_ going to school,” Adrien’s father said. “I _absolutely_ forbid it. Go to your room.”

Adrien stood, and stomped off. Just because he had to go to his room, didn't mean he couldn’t express his anger through being very loud as he did so.

He closed the door when he got there. “That son of a--”

“Adrien, language,” Nooroo chided, flying out of his shirt.

“Am I wrong though?”

“I’m sure your grandmother is a lovely woman.” Nooroo went to Adrien’s computer, turning it on. “Do you want to watch the news again?”

“No,” Adrien sighed. “That’ll just make me feel worse right now.”

“The Sims?”

“No.” He flopped into a chair, leaning back and looking up at his ceiling. “I just… I was _so_ close.”

“Perhaps tomorrow, then,” Nooroo said.

“Perhaps.”

He went to his desk, and pulled out one of his mother’s journals.

“May as well work on decoding this some more. Maybe we can find something more about that ‘Wish’ she keeps writing about.”

“Adrien, I told you before, the wish is dangerous. I thought you watched Fullmetal Alchemist, did you learn _nothing_ of equivalent exchange?”

“That’s anime, this is _real magic_ Nooroo. I can’t just sit by and watch my father tear himself apart, I have to do _something._ ”

“I’ve _seen_ this wish before, Adrien,” Nooroo said. “Please, listen to me when I warn you away from it.”

“I’m sorry,” Adrien said. “But I _can’t_. I have to do something.”

Nooroo sighed. Hopefully, once his bearer was in school, the boy would learn something of listening to reason. Gabriel Agreste wasn’t one to _give_ reasons; it was fair that Adrien wouldn’t have the framework to respond to them. 

\---

Marinette had found a new friend in Alya, a girl who had just transferred to Francoise Dupont. Usually she would sit by Nino; they had managed to sit near each other almost every year they could, but he was somehow later than she was to school, so that wouldn’t happen this year.

Nino had also been forced to sit towards the front of the class this year, which made introducing Alya to him slightly easier. They got on like a house on fire, and honestly this was the best start to a year Marinette had had in ages.

As Mme. Bustier gave her start of the year lecture, Marinette’s attention was drawn by Kim and Ivan. They were arguing about something, as everyone desperately tried to ignore them.

Ignoring them ceased to work when Ivan stood up and screamed Kim’s name.

“Ivan,” Mme. Bustier snapped. “Office, now. _Please_ don’t interrupt my class again. The rest of you can head to the gym with M. D’Argencourt, or to the library.”

\---

“Not who I was expecting, but alright.”

Ivan turned, confusion entering his expression as he saw the strange, blue man who had been standing behind him. He backed up. Whoever this was, he _wasn’t_ supposed to be here.

The man pulled out a fan, plucking a featherlike piece from it and tossing it towards Ivan’s hand.

No, not his hand. The wadded up piece of paper that was still inside his balled fist.

The feather hit, and the paper began to change. Ivan dropped it in surprise, staggering backwards. The man stooped down, and snatched the paper up.

“Thank you, young man,” he said. “You’ve been _very_ helpful.”

“What the fuck,” Ivan said.

\---

School closing early for a surprise super-villain attack was _not_ how Nino thought his day would go. Paris doesn’t even _have_ super-villains, where did this one even come from?

He had run from the school, towards his apartment, but the rampant destruction had put a bit of a block to his usual path. The streets were empty in a way he had never seen them, with most people ducking into stores or homes to hide. That may have been smart, but Nino couldn’t stop now.

Nino darted into an alleyway, and ducked under some debris that had wedged itself pretty firmly in place and started digging through his bag for emergency supplies. Anything that could get him home. Come on.

There was a box there. One that was octagonal, wooden, and that had very much not been there when he packed his things this morning.

Nino opened the box.

“Hello!”

“Agh!” He tossed the box a few feet away from him, pushing himself back against the debris.

“It’s okay!” The strange creature said. “I can help you protect Paris!”

“Protect Paris?” Nino inched towards the box. “Me? You know I’m like thirteen, right?”

“Yes! You have been chosen to become a hero, all you have to do is put on the earrings,” said the creature, blowing right past the age comment.

Nino picked up the earrings, looking at them incredulously. “I don’t have pierced ears,” he said.

“They’re magic, it will be fine, I promise.”

“Okay…” Nino picked up the earrings, and put one of them to his ear, hesitating to put it through.

The creature flew towards his hand, and gently pushed it. There was a flash of pink light, and the earrings were in place.

“See? Magic.”

“This is _so_ weird,” Nino decided.

“Look,” the creature said. “Once you activate the earrings, you’ll be a superhero. But you’ll only be able to use your special power, Lucky Charm, once. Then you’ll have five minutes before you transform back.”

“Uhh, okay. How do I transform?” Nino asked, increasingly confused the longer this went on.

“You tell me, ‘Tikki! Spots on!’ That’s me. I’m Tikki.”

“I’m Nino.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nino!” Tikki chirped. “Now, let’s go save Paris!”

\---

Given that her house was literally across the street from the school, Marinette didn’t have to think too hard about where she was going to go hide from the very large supervillain now rampaging through the streets of Paris. Her father remained downstairs, in some attempt to protect the shopfront, while Marinette and her mother went upstairs to fortify their home. It didn’t take long, as Sabine was _extremely_ prepared, and ready to go at any given moment, so Marinette decided to go up to her room, and call her classmates to make sure they got home alright.

Most of them responded pretty promptly, but Chloe, Sabrina, and (surprisingly) Nino didn’t answer.

“That’s… weird,” she muttered.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” a voice said behind her. “Got any cheese around?”

She whirled, yelping and throwing her phone on instinct. It phased right through the strange, floating… thing.

“Rude,” the weird cat bug mouse thing said.

“W-What are you?”

“ _I’m_ your ticket to helping save Paris, so how about showing a little respect?”

“What.”

The creature didn’t respond, instead they floated around touching everything they could see. “What _is_ this? Can I eat it?”

“No you _cannot_ ,” Marinette said, stiffening indignantly. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you? That’s not very nice, you know!”

“Am not! I am a magical being, filled with destructive power!”

“I don’t want destructive power in my house.”

“Okay, but what about outside the house? Like to help save Paris?”

“How is destructive power going to keep Paris from getting, you know.” She shrugged. “Destroyed?”

“You see, _that’s_ the _fun_ part.” The strange creature twirled dramatically. “But! Before that, introductions! I am Plagg, kwami of bad luck and destruction. The pleasure’s all yours, I’m sure.”

“Uh, sure. Now back on the topic of ‘Saving Paris’, how am _I_ going to do that?”

“By activating your brand new Miraculous!” Plagg said. “Feel free to applaud. I know you must be excited.”

“Not sure what that is, gonna be honest.”

Marinette looked around her room more carefully, spotting a little black box with red engraving on the top, which was sitting propped open on her desk.

“Right, I always forget,” Plagg groaned, floating over to the box. “That’s part of the deal. You can’t let anyone know you have this. Security reasons, you know?”

Marinette hummed in acknowledgement as she picked up the black ring that was nestled inside the box, and slipped it on. It glowed with a bright green light, and when she could see it again, the ring was a much subtler rose gold. 

“So,” Plagg said. “What you’ve gotta do, right? First, you say ‘Plagg’. You say ‘Plagg, Claws out!’ and you punch the air or something. What that does is transform you with the power of the Miraculous, that’s this--” he floated over and tapped the ring-- “and the kwami, that’s me.”

“Okay,” Marinette said, a little skeptically. “Then what?”

“Then wh-- you go save Paris!”

“But _how do I do that_?”

“Bounce around, hit stuff with your stick, and if you get stuck, say ‘Cataclysm!’ and then touch something. That’ll destroy it. After that, get out, you’ve only got 5 minutes before you’re less ‘Being of Immense Destructive Energy’ and more ‘Student who didn’t get enough sleep.’”

“I get to use my power… _once_.”

“ _My_ power,” Plagg corrected. “And yes. You’re a kid, you know, can’t give you everything just yet. Kittens gotta grow into their claws.”

She nodded, before punching out her hand dramatically and preparing to be a superhero.

“Plagg, Claws--”

“Wait! One more thing, you have a partner. If I’m out and about, one of Tikki’s bugs is bound to show up soon.”

“A _bug_ is going to help me?”

“A ladybug, yeah,” Plagg said. “Tikki’s my opposite number, see? Good luck, creation, all that jazz. She’s a goodie two-shoes, but she’s good people.”

“Alright then. Guess this is what my life is now. Little floating gods and supervillains.”

“Glad to see you’re so quick on the uptake, kitten!” Plagg swirled around her head. Something crashed in the distance, and he sighed. “We should… probably go now.”

“Plagg, Claws out!”

\---

Nino ran in the general direction of the sound of explosions. He had a yo-yo that he was _pretty_ sure he could swing around with, but his coordination was not the greatest (although it was far above some of his friends, mainly Marinette). He didn’t want to make his debut into the world by smacking into a billboard, so running it was.

He rounded a corner, and found himself at the scene of the crime.

The street was _devastated_. 

Buildings had massive chunks taken out of them, and there was dust clouding the air, making hard to see, hard to breathe. He put his arm over his mouth and squinted, slowing his motions as he moved through the cloud. He could hear people, but they were all hiding, or otherwise trapped somewhere he couldn’t see. 

It was awful, and he couldn’t sit down, let it all sink in, because he had to _fix this_.

Someone landed next to him. “You the bug?” she asked. Then she coughed. “Man, this _dust_.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Who are you? How do you know about-- wow, this coughing fit is going on a while.”

“Just a--” she was cut off again, coughing, before pulling her staff out and starting to twirl it, circulating some of the dust away from them. “Just a cat out looking for her partner.”

“I think I missed something,” Nino said.

“Yeah, fair enough,” she said. “I almost missed it, too. We’re gonna save Paris, right?”

“That’s the general idea, I think. First we have to find the dude that did all this though.”

“Yeah, that’s the tough part.” She looked around. “Well, we know where he _was_.”

There was a sudden crash, and the sound of police sirens from off to their right.

“I think we have to go,” Nino said. “Or else _we’ll_ get in trouble because the police’ll think this is _our_ fault.”

“Good idea.” she said, before she stopped spinning her baton, and jammed it towards the ground, and extended it, propelling herself into the sky.

“Are you gonna-- Right…” He looked at his yo-yo, dubiously, and started running.

\---

Marinette was crouched on a rooftop overlooking the police attempting to subdue the creature that was wrecking Paris. She watched with bated breath as the police approached him, and then groaned as they smacked the creature with a baton. It proceeded to scream, and grow substantially larger. Because of course it did.

There was a grunt behind her, and she turned, watching the bug boy peel himself off the ground.

“Good news,” he said. “I can fly.”

“Dude,” Marinette said appreciatively. Then, she glanced back at the monster. “Uh, bad news, that thing gets bigger when people hit it.”

“That is bad news, dude,” Bug boy said.

The monster took that moment to scoop up a person in its fist, and proceeded to throw them in the direction of the Eiffel Tower.

“That’s worse news,” Bug boy-- they were going to have to introduce themselves at some point-- said.

“You said you could fly?” she asked.

He nodded, and jumped off the rooftop, wings unfurling behind him. Bug boy moved very quickly for someone who figured out they had wings not five minutes ago, and barely managed to loop his yo-yo around the waist of the girl the monster had thrown.

She leaned forward, squinting. Chloe Bourgeois. Figured.

Bug boy waved at her, and Marinette waved back. He kept waving. Marinette pondered a moment, before realizing that maybe Bug boy wanted her to come over to where he was. She took out her baton (staff? stick?) and launched herself towards him. There _had_ to be an easier way to move around with this thing, that wasn’t just flinging herself at stuff and hoping for the best.

She managed to land on her feet this time, and walked a few paces close to Bug boy.

“Okay, like, what’s your name. I _cannot_ keep thinking of you as ‘Bug boy’ or else I’m never gonna be able to stop.”

“My name?” Bug boy looked like he hadn’t considered that. He looked down at himself, clearly taking the outfit into consideration. “I’m… Anatis. What about you, dude?”

“Fancy. I’m Ma-- Malheur Noire. Yup. That’s my name for sure.”

“Nice.” Anatis gave her a thumbs up.

“Well, this is _lovely_ ,” Chloe, who was still there, said. “What’s going on today, exactly?”

“Supervillian,” Marinette--Malheur said, pointing at the monster. 

“Superheroes,” said Anatis pointing at himself, and then Malheur.

“Then why is _that_ still _here_?” Chloe demanded.

“We’re _working_ on it!” Malheur sighed.

“Okay Chloe, do you mind not being like _right here_? There is a very big stone dude that is headed like, right towards us,” Anatis said.

Chloe looked up at the monster, squeaked, and ran.

It was just the two of them, weapons readied as much as they could be, given they’d had them for a whole half-hour at this point.

The monster walked right by them however, and went to go stand by the base of the Eiffel Tower.

“Disgusting,” Malheur said.

“You said it, dude,” Anatis agreed.

The monster just stood there, like it was waiting for something. Then a man appeared on the platform above it, dressed in dark blue, and with a relatively distinctive mask concealing his face.

“ _Please_ tell me that’s another superhero,” Anatis said.

“Somehow?” Malheur groaned. “I don’t think so.”


	2. No One's Around To Judge Me

Today was probably going to end up in Nino’s top ten worst days, or best days. He hadn’t decided which was more apt. On one hand, superpowers, but on the other, Paris was totally wrecked. He was feeling some mixed emotions.

The man standing above the monster gave them a mocking wave, his smug vibes radiating down over the street.

“My name is Paon. Only I can stop the destruction of Paris, for I control this Stonebeing.” 

“Great, dude!” Anatis called up. “Would you mind doing that, then?”

“Give me your Miraculous first, and then we can talk.”

“ _Okay_ , nevermind then.” Anatis said. “Not gonna do that actually.”

“What he said,” Malheur agreed. “You do _not_ seem like a responsible superperson.”

“You are children, and I need them,” he responded.

“You’re a bitch,” Malheur said.

She looked over at Anatis, and he nodded enthusiastically. 

“Same brain cell?”

“Same brain cell.”

Paon looked down at them, shocked and appalled by Malheur’s language.

“What’s the matter?” Anatis called up. “Cat got your tongue?”

The two heroes high fived.

“Alright, time to take this blue bastard down a notch.” Malheur said.

“Let’s,” Anatis agreed.

The fight was a blur, and Nino wasn’t sure he’d be able to accurately say what happened afterwards. He and Malheur were in sync, weaving around each other, taking hits and dealing them in harmony, but Paon was big, and Paon was strong, and Paon had a very scary monster on his side, and they were losing ground.

Then, Malheur’s staff smacked something out of Paon’s hand.

She hadn’t quite been aiming for it, but it did. As it fell, the monster slowed. Paon caught the paper, but it had fallen.

And, suddenly, the pair had a plan.

Anatis decided now was a good time to use that power Tikki had mentioned. He shot his hand into the air, shouted “Lucky Charm,” and then caught the resulting small object in his hands.

It was a marker.

“What am I meant to do with _this_?” he asked, hoping that maybe Tikki would materialize out of nowhere to help him.

“Anatis, that’s a marker,” Malheur said.

His eyes narrowed. “No,” he said facetiously. “I thought it was a spinning wheel.”

Paon was approaching them, right fist still clenched tight.

“We need to go for his hand, Anatis,” she said, pointing.

And with that, Anatis knew exactly what he needed this marker for. He uncapped it as the man approached.

“What are you going to do, _draw_ on me?” Paon laughed.

Anatis drew on him.

It wasn’t very much, just a scribble on his arm, but the man jerked backwards in surprise, dropping the paper. Malheur took the momentary surprise to dart forward and snatch up the paper. She looked Paon dead in the eye, and said “Cataclysm.”

The paper crumbled into ashes, a dark blue feather floating out from Malheur’s hand.

Anatis looked at Paon, then the feather, then the marker. Then he looked back at Paon again. Paon muttered something under his breath and bolted, disappearing for the time being.

“Now we go home, right?” Malheur said. She seemed a little uneasy, looking out over the destruction.

“I think so,” Anatis said, eyes going back to the marker. “What do I do with this?”

“Can you, like, dismiss it?” She leaned over, looking at it. “Where are the instructions on this thing?”

Anatis pulled at his yo-yo, which popped open in a way yo-yos don’t usually do, revealing a screen. A few tentative swipes later, and he had arrived at the user’s manual.

“Okay, uhhh, I have to ‘Purify the corruption’? Does it mean the feather?”

“I don’t know how your powers work,” Malheur shrugged. “Worth a shot?”

Anatis closed up his yo-yo and swung it in the direction of the feather. To his surprise, the yo-yo opened up, _ate the feather_ , and spat out a glowing white one instead.

“Oh, _funky_.”

“You’re telling me,” he said. “Okay, step one done. Step two was to ‘Call for the Cure’ so uh…” Anatis trailed off, pulling the user’s manual back up. “Here’s to hoping this works,” he muttered, and tossed the marker into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug?”

A swarm of ladybugs burst from the marker, swirling over the city. When they moved on from something, it was fully repaired, good as it had been that morning.

“ _Holy shit._ ”

Their jewelry beeped, snapping them out of their amazement.

“Well,” Malheur said. “See you around, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Anatis said. “Probably.”

Malheur held out her hand, and without thinking, Anatis reached out to her, and began what was a very complicated secret handshake. Malheur didn’t miss a beat, completing her half, although with a very confused look on her face.

“I’m gonna chalk that one up to magic?” she said.

“Seems reasonable,” Anatis said.

Malheur then did a little salute, and vaulted off.

\---

School was closed for the rest of the day, this time. Nino wasn’t convinced that was going to be a regular thing, if these attacks were.

It did make his life a little easier though. He only had to shimmy through his bedroom window, not try to worm his way into the school somehow.

He flopped onto his bed and sighed.

“What a day, huh?” Tikki said.

“Yeah,” Nino agreed. “You hungry, dude?”

She nodded. “Cookies, please?”

“I’ll… have to ask my parents.” He looked towards the door. “They normally have a pretty strict ‘no cookies before dinner’ rule, though.”

“Maybe they’ll be willing to bend it a little,” Tikki said. “Because of the incident today.”

“Maybe. But if cookies are gonna be an all the time thing, I’ll need to stock up somehow.”

“Hm,” Tikki said, a little concerned.

“Like, between my dad and my little brother, sweets never last long, so I guess we’ll need a little stash somewhere,” he mused.

“I’ll look around for a good spot!” Tikki said.

“In _this_ room, please,” Nino said as she zoomed into his closet.

\---

Adrien leaned backwards, cracking his joints. “Man,” he said. “Not much today, either.”

“Do you ever get the feeling you missed something?” Nooroo asked him.

“You mean, like, school?” Adrien proffered.

Nooroo considered that. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”

\---

Marinette flopped onto her bed and was half tempted to just stay there for the rest of the day.

“So, what’d you think?” Plagg floated around her head. “Not bad for your first day on the job, huh?”

“I called a man a bitch in front of all of Paris, Plagg,” she groaned into her pillow.

“Exactly!” Plagg said. “Most kids would wait until at _least_ their second day as a superhero to start cussing out the villains. You’re off to a great start!”

“Plagg, I don’t know if I can do this, like that Paon guy was so strong, and-”

“But you won,” Plagg said. “And you’re only gonna get stronger.”

“You really think so?”

“I _know_ so,” Plagg said. “Remember what I said about your powers being limited just yet because you’re a kitten? That wasn’t a joke. As you grow and learn, you’ll get stronger! Eventually, you won’t even have to detransform after using cataclysm! Although, that’ll be a while.”

Marinette looked up at Plagg, finally letting herself feel a little bit excited about the sudden turn her life had taken. 

“I get to destroy _more_ things? Hell yeah.”

“Eventually,” Plagg agreed. “For now, though… got any cheese? I like the expensive stuff, but any cheese’ll do.”

“Um, I have cheesy baked goods? How do you feel about danishes?”

“ _Hell_ yeah!”

\---

“Remember, last time you got caught because you didn’t leave early enough,” Nooroo said.

“Yup, that’s why we’re leaving now.”

“It’s 5am, Adrien. We have time,”

Adrien shoved a piece of toast in his mouth and snagged his bag.

“Mpmh Nmph, Nrmproo,” he said.

Nooroo sighed, but ducked into Adrien’s overshirt as the boy ran out of the building. Hopefully, today he could make it to class, at least.

Adrien ran the whole way to school, pausing only once to finish his toast. Just because he would have to wait outside the school for an hour didn’t mean today wasn’t a success. He sat on the steps of the school, and stared off into space waiting for the doors to open. As long as he got _into_ the building he should be fine.

He watched people walk by him; there weren’t too many as it was kind of early, but there were more than he would have expected. People watching was much more fun when it wasn’t out of the same old window.

A boy emerged from the crowd and sat down next to him. “Hey, dude,” he said. “You’re new, right? What class are you in?”

“Uh, the email I got said Bustier?”

“Hey, awesome!” The other boy said. “We’re in the same class! I’m Nino Lahiffe. What’s your name?”

“Adrien Agreste! Pleasure to meet you!” Adrien said, sticking his hand out for a handshake.

Nino took it. “Man, I feel like I’ve heard your name somewhere before. Weird. Anyways, anything in particular you’re looking forward to? Or nervous about?”

“I’ve never done the ‘school’ thing before. Or friends-- well I mean, I have one of those, but she’s, uh… a bit much.”

“Hm,” Nino said. “Well, I guess today’s going to be full of new experiences for you, dude. Congrats, welcome, all that.”

“Thank you? Any tips I should know?” Adrien asked.

“Uh… pay attention in class, be yourself, Chloe Bourgeois is a loose cannon but not a nice one.” Nino tapped his chin. “I think that’s it, really.”

“Chloe goes here? She said her school was, and I quote ‘a dumpster fire of a building.’ This doesn’t look like a dumpster fire to me.”

Nino looked at him for a few moments. “It’s really not,” he said after a bit. “Chloe just likes to complain. I guess she probably mentioned you at some point, and _that’s_ where I heard your name.”

Adrien looked at a nearby billboard with his face on it. “Yeah, probably,” he said.

Behind them, a woman cleared her throat, and gestured at the now open doors. “You boys are welcome to come in at any time,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Adrien said, standing and helping Nino up.

They walked in, and without missing a beat Nino started to show him around.

“And finally, our classroom. I think that’s all the places you gotta know.”

“Wow,” Adrien said appreciatively.

“Mme. Bustier says I have to sit up front this year. Want to sit with me?” Nino grinned at him.

Adrien grinned back. “Sure!”

If everyone at school was like Nino, today was going to be amazing.

\--

Marinette arrived just a little late, as usual.

“How do you always do this?” Nino asked her as she sat down. “You live, like, _right_ across the street.”

“I got distracted,” Marinette said, sliding over her phone. “Look! Aurore’s in the final! She might make it!”

“No way, really?” Nino picked up the phone. “That’s _awesome_! We have to go congratulate her later.”

Alya nudged Marinette and shot a look at her before looking over by Nino’s left.

There was a boy there who definitely wasn’t there earlier. Adrien Agreste. Like, the model.

Neat.

“Hi!” She smiled at him.

“Hi,” he said. “Nice to meet you. I’m Adrien.”

“Marinette,” she said.

Alya snagged Marinette’s phone from Nino and started scrolling through the comments on Aurore’s placing in the finale.

“Wow, some of these people are like, not being chill about this at _all,_ ” Alya said. “Like they do realize this is a competition for being the weather girl on a kids channel, right?”

“Yeah, we should go talk to Aurore later,” Nino said again. “We’re all voting for her though, right? I mean, come on.”

“Oh, for sure,” Marinette said.

“If I can vote,” Adrien said.

“Of course,” Alya said.

The bell rang, and Adrien and Nino turned back around, ready to start the school day.

\---

The group crowded around Aurore at lunch to provide their congratulations, also conveniently keeping Adrien away from Chloe for a little while longer. Aurore fiddled with the handle of her umbrella as she tried to talk with all the students crowded around her.

“Hope you’ll all watch the competition tonight!” she said as she backed up towards the exit.

“We might be being a bit much,” Adrien said quietly, leaning over to Nino. He could feel the anxiety pulsing off of Aurore. Nooroo had warned him about the way emotions might overwhelm him, but he hadn’t anticipated _this_. The excitement of the crowd and the rising fear left him half breathless. If this didn’t die down soon, Aurore wouldn’t be the only one looking for an escape route.

“You’re not wrong,” Alya said, walking back towards a secluded area of the courtyard. Her friends followed quickly, making their escape towards the ever-confusing courtyard tree.

Adrien’s attention remained with Aurore, however. He had caught a butterfly out in the gardens, and Nooroo had stored it somewhere, at least that’s what he said. If something _should_ happen, as it had the day before, he had a candidate for a Champion. He was still mad he had missed the debut of the Ladybug and Cat. He hadn’t even noticed! Paris got _wrecked_! 

“You good, Adrien?” Marinette asked.

“Yeah, just thinking. Got a little lost in thought.”

“Fair enough, dude. Life’s been kinda weird lately, with all the superheroes and whatnot,” said Nino.

“Did I show you guys yet? I got them on camera!” said Alya, pulling out her phone. “I managed to get close enough to the Eiffel Tower yesterday to get the fight!”

“Alya!” Marinette yelped. “That was really dangerous! You could’ve gotten hurt!”

“But I didn’t, _and_ I got the biggest scoop of this century! I even made a new blog for them, and people are, like, actually looking at it.”

“She’s already _got_ the pictures,” Adrien pointed out, hoping that would quell the rising panic from Marinette and Nino. “Can I see?”

Alya handed him her phone, with the pictures already pulled up. That was definitely a Ladybug and a Cat alright, the spots on the first’s suit, and the little cat ears that peeked up and around the second’s buns confirmed it.

“Did anyone manage to catch their names?” Adrien asked.

“I didn’t,” Alya sighed. “That would’ve been cool though.”

Chloe took that moment to walk up to the group, and clear her throat. “I heard you wanted to know the new heroes' names?”

“Yes,” Adrien said.

“Why are you here?” Marinette said.

“I was there, _Marinette_. I heard it all first-hand. Can you say the same?”

Marinette looked at her for a long moment, mouth pressed into a thin, hard line. “No,” she said finally. “No I cannot.”

“ _Exactly._ So you need me, Chloe Bourgeois, to assist.”

Adrien nodded, hoping to hurry her along. “Yup, we do need you to know their names, which are?”

“The one with the dreadful spotted pattern is Anatis, and the cat girl is Malheur Noire.”

“Hm,” Adrien said. “Interesting choices.”

“Well,” Nino said. “Anatis _does_ mean ladybug.”

“And I think Malheur chose a pretty cool play on black cats being ‘unlucky’, don’t you think?” Marinette added.

“Anatis is a little obscure,” Chloe scoffed.

“Nearly 4% of the population speaks Arabic natively, Chloe,” Nino said. “That’s around two and a half million people.”

“Yeah, Chloe. Just because you don’t know languages, doesn’t mean other people don’t,” said Adrien.

“Adrien, I--” Chloe trailed off, looking at him like she wasn’t sure who she was talking to.

Alya typed away on her phone, oblivious to the world as she made a blog post.

“Chloe, on top of everything else, are you gonna be racist today?” Marinette raised an eyebrow. “Like, for real? Real shit?”

“No, I just-”

“Chloe, go find somewhere else to be condescending,” Adrien sighed, putting his head in his hands. Chloe could be grating sometimes, but she usually wasn’t this ignorant. “I’m trying to make a good impression on these people.”

Marinette snorted, and Nino covered his mouth.

Chloe stood silent, mouth open, for a solid thirty seconds, before turning and walking away without a word.

Alya held up a hand without looking away from her phone.

Adrien thought for a moment, and stood. He tried his best to do a proper handshake, but it wasn’t easy, he’d never had to do one vertically before.

Nino gasped lightly behind his hands.

Alya looked up from her phone, and just stared at him.

“Okay buddy, what the fuck was that?” asked Marinette.

“A handshake?” Adrien said, suddenly not sure of himself. His new friends were all looking at him weirdly.

“Just let it be,” Nino said to Marinette. “It’s fine.”

“He just--” she gestured vaguely.

“I know,” Nino said. “But hear me out.” He took her by the shoulder and led her a bit away, whispering something.

She looked at him seriously for a few moments. “No,” she said at last. “No, I really think we have to have this conversation with him. He has a right to know.”

“Marinette--”

“Adrien.” Marinette turned. “Have you ever heard of a high five?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Blinding Lights by Pentatonix  
> Marinette: if my parents find out I said a sweat word they’ll kill me  
> Plagg: fortunately they shouldn’t be finding out


	3. The Pyre of Obsession

The day had been confusing for Marinette in particular. She had made a new friend, which was great, but this new friend also had the most scattershot knowledge of human interaction she had ever encountered. Adrien was an anomaly of a human being, but she very desperately wanted to get to know him. So off she went to go meet Adrien and Alya at the park after school.

What Marinette had not remembered, was that she had promised to babysit Manon. 

“How much damage could she do, she’s tiny,” offered Plagg. “What if we just leave her here?”

“Plagg,” Marinette said. “You are tiny. How much damage could  _ you _ do?”

“I’m literally the manifest entity of destruction,” he said.

“And  _ she _ is literally a toddler, so…”

Plagg paused, stopping his mid-air pacing. “You aren’t  _ wrong _ per se, but how will you have any fun if you have to look after her?”

“If I can manage to save Paris, I can manage to have fun time at the park while also looking after a small child.”

Plagg shrugged. “Whatever you say, kid.”

\---

Adrien watched in awe as Manon bolted towards the balloon vendor, dodging Marinette once again. Her legs were so short, but she was so  _ fast _ . Were all kids this energetic?

Manon ducked down behind a stroller, and snagged a Mirelle balloon, before running off once again. Okay, that was definitely illegal, even if she was basically a baby.

“Manon!” Marinette yelped.

Alya quietly paid the balloon vendor as she and Adrien continued to watch the chase.

“I have no idea how to help her,” Adrien admitted.

“The kid’ll run down eventually,” Alya said. “My little sisters are the same way.”

“That’s good, but can Marinette survive it?” he asked, looking at Marinette struggling to catch her breath. “Like, Manon will be fine, but Marinette?”

“You’re right,” Alya said. “Let’s go help her out with this chase.” Alya rolled up her sleeves, and took off after Manon, and before Adrien could process what she had suggested, Manon had been scooped up and hoisted up onto Alya’s shoulders.

Manon cheered, and Marinette sighed with relief and exhaustion.

“Alya, do you mind watching her for a few seconds?” Marinette asked, clearly tired from the wild chase she had just been on.

Alya nodded. “Come on, kiddo, let’s go check out the merry-go-round!”

Manon cheered again, and they went off. Marinette collapsed onto a nearby bench, and Adrien sat next to her. They sat in silence as Marinette recovered.

The park was nice. It was quiet and most of the people here seemed to be happy, or at least they weren’t actively upset, which made a nice break from school.

All of the sudden, Adrien felt a huge spike of  _ fear _ from the direction of the merry-go-round. He stood on instinct, stiffening. “Alya,” he said.

“Huh?” Marinette looked at him.

“We need to go--”

There was a scream.

“Fuck.” Marinette stood, too, and turned towards the merry-go-round. “What’s happening? Is it that Paon guy again?”

A massive blue horse with glowing red eyes neighed, scattering the park’s inhabitants as the distant laughter of Paon could be heard.

“Split up,” Adrien suggested. “It can’t follow everyone, and we’re better off confusing it by scattering.”

“Good idea,” Marinette said.

They booked it in opposite directions.

Adrien may have missed his chance last time, but he was ready to go now. He ducked into an alleyway. “Nooroo, Wings Rise!”

A few moments later, he was transformed, and he could feel an emotional map of his present slice of Paris.

It was largely fear, which made the anger of one Aurore Beaur é al stand out all the more. He opened his butterfly jar and brought the small creature out onto his finger. “Bonjour, petit papillon,” he muttered. “Care to help me help out a friend?”

It flapped its wings as they shifted to a more purple hue.

“Thanks,” he said, and raised his hand. The butterfly flew off, now on a mission.

About fifteen seconds later, it made contact with Aurore’s parasol.

“Huh?” She said.

“Hi,” Adrien said. “Want to work out some aggression on a monster controlled by a supervillain?”

“Sounds great,” she said. “Do I get powers?”

“Hell yeah,” he said. “Um, when you’re done, can you ask Anatis and Malheur Noire for their Miraculouses? That’d be great.”

“I don’t know if that’ll work out very well,” she said. “But I’ll try. Who should I say is asking?”

“Um,” Adrien said. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. “Ah, Aleuron. I’m Aleuron.”

“Neat,” Aurore said, and the transformation took hold.

The connection shut off, and Aleuron’s brooch beeped impatiently. He powered down as Aurore’s empowered form darted overhead, joining the battle. He heard a distinct “What the  **fuck** ?” come from down the street.

“I wouldn’t advise attempting to unify the cat and ladybug, Adrien,” Nooroo said. “You know that. It’s dangerous.”

“I know, but I  _ have _ to if I want my mom back,” Adrien said.

“Adrien, this is not a good idea,” Nooroo insisted.

“Why don’t we get you some apples and then maybe you’ll feel better?”

“I--” Nooroo just shook his head, and ducked into Adrien’s overshirt.

\---

“What the  **fuck** ?” Malheur said as the new figure joined the battle.

“Talk later, beat up monster and supervillain now,” she said.

“I guess?” Malheur said as she smacked one of the horse’s legs with her baton.

The stranger seemed to have a powerful ability for weather manipulation, which she used to freeze the horse in place.

“Let’s smack Paon around again,” Anatis suggested. “Seemed to work last time.”

“He’s holding a balloon this time,” Malheur said.

“We should pop it,” the stranger said grimly, looking at the faint impression of Mirelle on the balloon.

“Alrighty, then,” Anatis said, before calling for his Lucky Charm.

“Ma’am, do you have issues?” Malheur asked.

“‘Ma’am’?” The stranger raised an eyebrow. “What am I, fourty?”

“Malheur, you can’t just ask people if they have issues. Now come over here, so I can tie you to this kite, and aim you at Paon.”

“And you said  _ I _ was the one with issues,” the stranger said, crossing her arms.

“This is an amazing plan, what are you talking about?” Anatis said, while looping his yo-yo around Malheur Noire and the kite.

“Let’s fuckin’  _ gooooo _ !” Malheur cheered.

“Okay new girl, help me get some air on this one,” said Anatis, getting ready to yeet Malheur Noire off the building.

“Alright,” she said, opening her parasol and causing the wind to pick up.

Malheur soared over to Paon, and before he could even blink at the wild plan that was unfolding she had Cataclysmed his balloon.

A feather fell out, and she caught it before roundhouse kicking off his face back towards Anatis, who was reeling in his yo-yo as the weather girl reversed the wind.

“Bye, you little bitch,” said Anatis, releasing the now-purified Amok.

Paon disappeared shortly after.

“Now, uh,” the weather girl said. “Here’s where things get  _ awkward _ .”

“What’s your name?” Malheur asked.

“Didn’t get one,” she said. “This fellow  _ Aleuron, _ though, asked  _ me _ to ask you two politely if he could have your, uh… he called them ‘Miraculouses’?”

“He cannot have those,” Anatis said.

“Yeah, that’s what I told him you’d say, but he still wanted me to ask,” she said. “Anyways, uh, my little power up’s in my parasol, so you can break that and fix everything, if you want.” She held it out.

Anatis grabbed the offered parasol, and snapped it over his knee, releasing a little purple butterfly.

“Is this like the feathers?” asked Malheur.

“May as well find out?” Anatis said, as his yo-yo swallowed up the butterfly. The yo-yo spat out a normal, non-magical looking butterfly just a moment later.

“Bye lil dude.”

Aurore looked around. “How the  _ fuck _ did I get on this roof?”

“You don’t remember?” Malheur asked.

“Not a thing.”

“Huh. Uh, good job?” said Malheur as she went in for the handshake that occurred last time.

Anatis fulfilled his half of it perfectly once again. “Let’s get you off this roof, and then we can all go back to what we were doing before.” He tossed the kite into the air, and once again, all damage to Paris was fixed.

“Hey, superheroes, do you have time for an interview?” Alya called up at them.

“Sorry, not today!” Malheur said. “Maybe some other time?”

“Okay, but one question first? Are your names  _ actually _ Anatis and Malheur Noire?”

“Yup,” Anatis said.

“Damn, Chloe was right,” said Alya.

“Unfortunately,” Malheur said. “Bye for now, alright? When we’re ready for interviews, we’ll find you.”

Anatis waved, and then swung off into the distance. “Anatis, you can fly,” Malheur called after him, before helping Aurore to the ground and running off.

After a few moments, Alya turned to Aurore. “Can I interview  _ you _ ?”

“You can certainly try,” Aurore said. “It’s not like I remember anything, though. Or you could ask me about the weather girl contest, but I’m still mad about that.” 

“Aw, man, did you lose?” Alya said. “How? I thought you were a shoe-in for the win.”

“I don’t  _ know _ !” Aurore threw her hands in the air. “There isn’t even any-- promotional merch… of…… me………”

Alya covered her mouth. “I think they rigged it.”

“Let’s talk about  _ that _ !”

\---

“Tikki, do you know about any Aleuron people around and about?”

Tikki shook her head. “I haven’t heard anything about that before. Maybe we should look them up?”

Nino pulled out his phone to check. “Okay so Google says it's either a protein in plants, a moth, or a Trojan program,” he said.

“It’s the moth,” Tikki said. “It has to be. Aleuron must have the butterfly Miraculous!”

“That’s concerning,” Nino said. “Like, dude was polite and all, or at least his representative was, but…”

“He does want to take your Miraculous for unknown purposes which is, in general, not good,” Tikki agreed.

“Yeah,” Nino said. “I’ve known you for all of two days, but I’d appreciate it if people would stop trying to take the magic earrings that are responsible for your presence.”

“I would also appreciate that,” Tikki said.

They were quiet for a few seconds.

“Can we get some cookies?” Tikki asked.

“Yeah, alright,” Nino said.

\---

“So, yeah,” Aurore said. “One moment I was walking home, upset about losing the contest by as much as I did, and the next I’m on a roof with some superheroes. I… I think I talked to someone? It’s hazy now.”

“That is  _ so _ weird,” Adrien said.

“So, Aurore,” Alya said, phone recording. “You were definitely right about one thing. There  _ wasn’t _ any promotional material for you. Why do you think that was?”

“If I were to give them the benefit of the doubt,” Aurore said, “it would make  _ literally _ no sense whatsoever, for any reason. So obviously I’m not gonna do that.”

“Obviously,” Marinette said.

“The only explanation  _ I _ can think of is that they rigged the competition for some reason,” Aurore continued. “I’m open to other suggestions, I guess, but they’re gonna have to be damn good ones to explain how they  _ only _ had  _ any _ merch for Mirelle.”

“I don’t have another explanation for that, either,” Adrien said. “I’d doubt Mirelle herself had anything to do with it, but the station? Stations pull stuff like that all the time.”

“Can we even do anything about it?” asked Marinette.

“We can complain  _ really _ loudly,” Alya said. “Post on the internet, start a letter-writing campaign, demand either a fair redo or that they work as co-hosts. Enough angry people can get a lot done. Remember the Sonic movie?”

“Oh, yeah,” Marinette said. “I still see that first design in my nightmares.”

“There was a Sonic movie?” asked Adrien, “I loved those games.”

“I’ll show you sometime,” Marinette said. “We’re getting off topic.”

Aurore nodded. “Yeah, let’s watch that later. I actually have it on DVD. Anyways, I’d be totally down with being co-hosts. Mirelle was pretty cool during the competition. Better than the station staff, anyways…”

“Girl what did they do,” Alya said. She held her phone up a bit more. “Spill.”

\---

“Plagg, What the fuck happened to Aurore today?”

“Magic,” Plagg said. “She mentioned an Aleuron, right? Isn’t that a type of grain protein? Maybe someone’s doing grain magic.”

“I think maybe we should double check that,” Marinette said. “I think  _ maybe  _ we should be hesitant to conclude that the answer is grain magic.”

“Alright,” Plagg said.

Marinette slid over to her computer and tapped out the word. “Aleurone is a grain protein,” she said. “But Aleuron without the ‘e’ is a type of moth, apparently.”

“Oh, shit,” Plagg said. “Nooroo magic.”

“Nooroo?”

“He’s a kwami, like me,” Plagg said. “The kwami of transmission. He’s a butterfly.”

“Well, shit. Can you like, use kwami magic to talk to him or something?”

“Only on his birthday,” Plagg said, completely seriously.

“You guys celebrate birthdays? When’s yours, I’ll need to get a gift, and make a cake, or a cheesecake or…” Marinette trailed off.

“Eh, it’s not for a few years yet,” Plagg said. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“Noted. Back on topic, we should  _ probably _ go tell Anatis about our Nooroo magic discovery.”

“It might be good to discuss with him, yeah,” Plagg said. “Make sure we’re all on the same page. Can I have some more cheese first?”

“My parents are going to get concerned about my cheese consumption again,” Marinette sighed. “Sure, you can have more cheese.”

“Again?”

“Yeah, again,” Marinette said.

\---

“Anatis! Over here!” Malheur called out, waving her arms frantically.

Anatis turned. “Ah!” He said. “Noire! Did you figure it out, too?”

“About Aleuron having the butterfly Miraculous?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Yeah,” she said. “Plagg only remembered grain proteins, so it took us a hot second, but we got it.”

“Why the  _ fuck _ does Plagg know about grain proteins?”

“Does it look like I know?” Malheur shrugged. “Anyways, what are we doing about this, do you think?”

Anatis considered that. “I mean we can ask him for  _ his _ Miraculous, but I think that’ll go over about as well as it did with us.”

“Yeah, probably,” Malheur agreed.

“How would we even find him, considering we’ve never even seen the guy?”

“That  _ is _ the question,” Malheur agreed. “I think we’ll have to wait for him to show up again, if we want to try anything, at this point.”

“Sounds like a solid enough plan to me. Do you wanna, like, patrol or like, play tag or something?”

Malheur’s expression brightened. “Tag might be a good way to improve our mobility. I’m still not used to travelling by baton just yet.”

“Great!” Anatis said. “You’re it!” Then he flew off.

“Hey!” Malheur laughed, following him.

Their cheers echoed through the streets of Paris as they chased each other across the rooftops.

\---

“Don’t think I’m going to let up on this,” Nooroo said, munching on an apple. “It’s a bad idea.”

“Well it’s the only one I’ve got,” Adrien said. “If you’ve got another way to bring my mom back, I’m all ears.”

Nooroo sighed. “Adrien,” he said. “Sometimes people are gone, and there’s nothing to do about it.”

“I  _ can’t _ accept that,” Adrien said. “Not her. Not like that.”

He could see her, collapsed in her chair and coughing like she’d never stop again. 

No one deserved to die. Not like that. Not like her.

Adrien wasn’t going to let that stand.

Nooroo sighed. “It’s getting late,” he said. “You should do your homework, or get ready for bed.”

“Good idea, Nooroo. Do you know how to do Trigonometry?”

“Yes, let’s see it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from "Hell to Your Doorstep" from the Count of Monte Cristo musical
> 
> POV: us googling "Aleuron" so we could write in accurate google results


	4. Hands High Like A Roller Coaster

“What do you mean, ‘I can’t do birthdays,’” Nino said. “They’re, like, the best?”

“I can’t do birthdays,” Adrien repeated. “My dad won’t let me have birthday parties, like, ever.”

“Awful,” Marinette said. “0/10, we do not stan, there are no icons present.”

“We already knew that, now we just have to figure out who's gonna go punch Adrien’s dad,” Alya said.

“I don’t think punching my father will be necessary,” Adrien said quickly. “It’s… not that big of a deal, really. I don’t  _ need _ a party.”

“Well,” Marinette said. “Maybe not a party, but he can’t object to me bringing a cake into class, right? I mean,  _ I’m _ not his kid.”

“Have I mentioned how I’m not allowed sweets? My dietitian would, like, kill me.”

“Your dietitian doesn’t have to know,” Nino said. “Besides, it’s  _ one _ slice of cake. Mari’s folks can make it diabetic friendly, even. You know, if you need that.”

“I’m not diabetic, I just need to maintain my form for photo shoots.”

“You are a noodle!” Alya picked up Adrien’s arm and waved it. “You are a sack of wet noodles and you’re not even full. You need more carbs.”

Marinette nodded solemnly. “You need carbs. And someone to punch your dad.”

“And your dietitian.” Alya dropped his arm.

“I am  _ not _ a noodle! I have bones! And muscles!” Adrien shot back.

Nino blinked. “Where??”

“Noodle man,” Mari said.

“Noodle man,” Alya agreed.

“Bones? I have bones inside my skin? That’s where they’re supposed to live, with the organs, and uhhhh… Human juice? The red one?”

“Blood,” Marinette supplied.

“Thanks. Yeah, blood. Inside my body. Yes.”

“With the noodles,” Alya said.

“No!”

“Alright, back to birthdays. How are we getting my dude a party?” said Nino.

“We could pretend it’s a study session,” Marinette suggested.

“Hmmm… I’m not sure Nathalie would buy that. Could we stage a robbery?”

“I  _ love _ how that’s the first thing that comes to mind,” Alya said. “Loving those vibes. But I feel like that’d be  _ too _ concerning. Would you be allowed to come back to school after that?”

“That  _ is _ the one issue with that plan,” Marinette said.

“The  _ one _ issue,” Nino said, stunned.

“Yes,” Alya and Marinette said in unison.

“I  _ feel _ like there’s more,” Nino said. “Just-- Just a feeling, but there might be more.”

“No, I think they’re right,” Adrien said. “It’s the only logical problem with the plan.”

“Maybe…” Marinette muttered. “You could break out of your house? Meet us somewhere?”

“We could just have it during lunch,” Nino said. “We  _ could _ just have it during lunch.”

“I- I did not think of that,” Marinette said. “I could get my parents to bring some pastries from the bakery, it’ll be subtle enough, cause they’ll be for the whole class?”

“I like that idea,” Alya said. “So… during lunch, we’ll just eat some pastries and briefly embarrass you with a birthday song. How’s that sound?”

“A song? Like in TV shows?”

“Adrien, have you  _ never _ had a birthday song??”

“My mother was weird about birthdays, and I’m pretty sure my father doesn’t remember that my birthday’s even happening.”

Marinette cracked her knuckles. “Okay, so, I’m beating up your dad.”

“Please don’t,” Adrien said.

“Don’t,” Nino agreed. “You are  _ not _ getting arrested during our acquaintance. Wait until I don’t know you anymore.”

“Alright,” Marinette said. “Gives me more time to plan, anyhow.”

“Just don’t leave a paper trail, and we’ll be all good,” Alya said. 

“I’m not sure if you’re joking anymore,” said Adrien.

“We never were,” Marinette said.

“Anyways,” Nino said. “What sweets do you want at your lunch party? We should pick those out now.”

“I like passionfruit? And things with fruit?”

Marinette was taking notes.

“Oh and those little things with cream cheese in the middle? Danishes? I don’t really know much about food.”

Marinette was taking  _ faster _ notes.

“Dude, slow down, you don’t want to rip the paper again,” Nino said, putting his hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

“He will  _ learn _ .” Marinette’s notetaking only slowed a little bit.

“The pencil, Mari. It’s gonna snap.”

Marinette paused, took a deep breath, adjusted her grip, and kept writing.

Adrien was in awe of how much there apparently was to know about food.

“Adrien, make room in your calendar. It’s gonna take a while for Marinette to teach you,” Nino said. “Alya escaped cause her mom’s a chef, but the rest of us?”

“I don’t have control of my calendar,” Adrien said.

“Okay gang, the plan is back to punching,” Marinette said, continuing her notetaking.

“Marinette!” Adrien yelped.

A bell rang.

“Oh shit, class!” Nino shouted, running back into the school.

The others followed him, slightly panicked. 

\---

Plagg watched as Marinette paced around her room, muttering quietly, and reviewing a small notebook.

“Can you believe this, Plagg? He doesn’t even get to have cake!”

“It’s a travesty,” Plagg agreed solemnly.

“Are there, like, hero rules? More than ‘Save the City, and don’t say your legal name’ I mean. Like, say, hypothetically, I was to break into a mansion, and punch a rich dude, like would I get in trouble?”

“I imagine the guardian would be displeased,” Plagg said. “And the cops. But fuck that, honestly. Follow your vibes, you’re the black cat now.”

“The guardian?”

“Yeah,” Plagg said, and did not elaborate.

“Okay…” Marinette allowed herself a moment of something between confusion and concern, before returning to the task at hand. “Anyways, we’re getting a spread going. I’m thinking… clafoutis, frasier, macarons, profiteroles… we are feeding this boy.”

“Sack of wet noodles that he is,” Plagg agreed. “Still, somehow, not enough carbs in there.”

“Oh, I can also do some of those cheese breads you like! Papa’s not gonna question why I need so many if I say it’s for the class. Or just Adrien, really. I think Papa has half a mind to kidnap him, and make him eat soup.”

“Let’s stick to pastries for now,” Plagg said. “Actually, hey, does dessert soup exist?”

“The best of both worlds,” Marinette agreed. “Unfortunately, I don’t think so.”

“Not  _ yet _ ,” Plagg said. “Dessert soup doesn’t exist  _ yet. _ ”

“We’ll get to that some other time,” Marinette said, flipping to a new page of her notebook, writing ‘dessert soup’ on it, and ripping it out to pin to her wall next to ‘dessert scrambled eggs’.

“Marinette, you are the best, have I told you that?”

“You could stand to say it more often,” Marinette teased. “I’m gonna talk to my parents about the pastry thing now, alright? Be back up in a second.”

“Have fun kit, set something on fire for me,”

“Later,” she said. “Not in my parents’ business, where I live.”

“No fun,” Plagg whined, sticking out his tongue.

Marinette just smiled, and climbed out of her room.

\---

“Tikki, are there, like, superhero laws?”

“Not many,” Tikki admitted. “But you  _ have _ to be responsible with your powers, Nino. Overusing them or exposing your identity could have serious consequences for you and the people you love.”

“So no breaking and entering? Not even to punch Gabriel Agreste?”

“Unfortunately, no. That would be bad for universal balance, probably, and also it would make the guardian mad.”

“The guardian?” Nino hesitated. “Who’s… that?”

“I’m sure we’ll get there eventually,” Tikki said. “For now, though… give it some time. You’re still new to all this, you know! You don’t need everything all at once!”

“I suppose. Do you have any tips for being a good... bug I guess?”

“You wield the power of creation,” Tikki said seriously. “That power will only grow as you do. You need to be confident and decisive with it. Hesitation will always bring you more difficulties than action, even if you initially make the wrong choice. It’s okay to get it wrong.”

“That makes sense, I think. Just trust myself?”

“It’s not as simple as it sounds,” Tikki said. “Unfortunately. But yes, trust yourself.”

“Okay. Well, I’m pretty sure we should get moving, we don’t wanna make Marinette carry all the pastries by herself. Hey, maybe I can sneak away some macarons for you!”

“Yum!” Tikki said.

\---

Adrien watched as Nino and Marinette walked towards him, each holding a pile of boxes that were at least 4 feet high. He was beginning to think he might have gotten in over his head with this whole ‘friendship’ thing.

“Adrien! We brought food!” Marinette called from somewhere behind the boxes. “I’d wave, but then it would all be ground food!”

“I’d… prefer table food to ground food,” Adrien decided. “Are we gonna be able to finish all these?”

“Yes. You underestimate Kim’s ability to consume.”

“Oh, boy,” Adrien muttered. “What have I gotten myself into?”

Nino set his boxes down on a table and whistled, catching the attention of the other students. “Hey!” He yelled. “We’ve got a birthday over here! Everyone come sing and then dig in!”

As one entity, the courtyard cheered.

“Oh my,” Adrien said, as he watched the courtyard surge towards him in a single unified movement. “That’s a lot of people.”

“They’ll go away once we’ve fed them,” Marinette assured him. “Panem et circenses and all.”

Nino conducted the students in a rousing chorus of the happy birthday song, before beginning to hand out various foodstuffs. Adrien noticed that Nino was giving  _ him _ about three times more pastry than the average other student, which he supposed was a birthday thing.

“Food for the birthday boy!” Alya cheered, before shoving yet another pastry at him.

“O-Okay,” Adrien said, taking it. “These are-- These are really good, but I’ve had a lot of them now? I’m not sure I’ll ever have to eat again.”

“Don’t eat till you feel sick, but do eat,” Marinette advised.

“Noodle boys need food,” Nino said.

“I’ll, uh, save some of these for later,” Adrien decided. “They’re really good! I really appreciate this!”

He put a tart into his pocket, and hoped that Nooroo would eat it before it got too crumbly.

“Did you just put a whole tart in your shirt?” Marinette asked.

“Yes?”

They looked at each other for a long moment.

“Alright,” Marinette said. “Not like I haven’t done weirder, I guess.”

It was then Adrien felt the tell-tale vibration of his phone. Nathalie was calling.

He slowly withdrew his phone and pushed the button to answer. “Yeah?” His voice only shook a little.

“You are following all the stipulations set for you to be able to attend school, correct?”

Adrien looked at the snack table for a long moment.

“Yes,” he said. “Absolutely.”

Nathalie said something else, but he wasn’t paying attention. The courtyard was  _ very _ happy, and it was a bit distracting. 

“Yup, sure, got it. Bye,” he said, hanging up the phone so he could focus on the pastry pile in front of him. There were a  _ lot _ of pastries, and he didn’t know what most of them  _ were, _ but it looked like they could all be eaten by hand, so he wasn’t going to complain.

“Are there any spare, uhh…. Things I can eat?” Chloe asked, appearing from the crowd.

“Today is a day of generosity,” Nino said.

“So, yes,” Marinette said. “We’ve brought too many pastries to say no.”

“Dig in,” Alya said.

“Oh,” Chloe said, looking a little surprised. “Okay, uh, I appreciate your generosity.”

“You don’t have to lie to me,” Marinette said, and dumped a few tarts into Chloe’s confused hands. “Just eat, alright?”

Chloe looked at Marinette once more, before turning away to eat as quickly as she could without cramming the food into her mouth.

This was distinctly less dignified then Adrien was used to, but neither of their parents were there, so all bets were off. Adrien let himself relax into the waves of general happiness the crowd was giving off.

A quick burst of surprise was all the warning he had before the huge, red spider crawled over the side of the building and the world was consumed by  _ fear. _ Adrien’s breath caught, and he nearly collapsed as the people around him began to run and scream and  _ panic. _

Alya was saying something, but Adrien couldn’t understand it over all the anxiety. He didn’t protest though, when she grabbed his wrist and pulled, making Adrien stumble his way into the school. They paused once they got to the locker rooms, and it was far enough away from all the fear that he could breathe again.

He had to do something, had to send a Champion to  _ help, _ but Alya was right--

Alya.

“Alya I- I need a moment, I just need to- I’m gonna go over there,” Adrien stammered out, pointing at an open locker.

She raised her voice to protest, but he was already in the process of sitting in the locker, and she couldn’t stop him from closing the door. There. Privacy.

“Adrien, I don’t think this is gonna help you,” Alya said.

“Can’t hear you, in locker,” Adrien said, and transformed as quietly as he could.

“Closed spaces aren’t always a great idea,” she protested.

Aleuron held up a jar containing one (1) butterfly and a couple of flowers he’d picked off one of his dad’s favorite bushes. He opened it, letting the butterfly crawl out onto his hand.

“Ready?” He whispered.

“What did you say?” Alya asked.

The butterfly took on his power and phased through the locker door, coming to rest inside the charm on Alya’s phone.

“Lady Wifi, you want to know things, more than anyone else I can think of. I’ll give you the power to use that to help people, if you want. Also please get me, Aleuron, the Miraculouses, thanks.”

“Alright then?” she said, as a vaguely purple light filtered into the locker he was currently in. His connection to her snapped shut, and within moments, the locker room was empty. Aside from him, of course.

Adrien detransformed and fumbled with the emergency unlatching mechanism, before climbing out of the locker. “Nice,” he said. 

Nooroo looked at him. “Would it kill you to  _ not _ try and get the Miraculouses  _ one _ time?”

“Maybe,” Adrien said. “But it can’t hurt to try, right?”

“It can, actually. It can hurt to try.”

“You worry too much,” Adrien said.

“I’d beg to differ. Do you happen to have any more of those tarts?”

“They’re… probably outside, still,” Adrien said. “So, uh… if you want me to risk being got by the spider, we can go get them.”

“I’ll just go by myself, if that’s alright. You shouldn’t have to go back out there, it’s still… pretty bad.”

“Aren’t you supposed to avoid being seen?”

“Yes, but you’re thirteen, so I’m not going to drag you into a combat zone while you can’t transform,” Nooroo said firmly.

“That’s… yeah, go ahead. I’ll chill in the locker,” Adrien said, considering that.

“Please don’t lock yourself in there again,” Nooroo sighed. He still flew off to go get tarts, though. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Welcome to the Show by Britt Nicole
> 
> Blood juice conversation inspired by real events. (ignore me originally posting this with completely broken formatting lol - oceans)

**Author's Note:**

> We are simply vibing.  
> find us at @starburstdragon (Blooming Miracle) and @falling-oceans (fallingoceans) on tumblr


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